ultimatepopculturefandomcom-20200216-history
Ancient literature
Before the spread of writing, oral literature did not always survive well, though some texts and fragments have persisted. sees some fairy tales as literary survivals dating back to Ice Age and Stone Age narrators. List of ancient texts Bronze Age :See also: Sumerian literature, Akkadian literature, Ancient Egyptian literature,Hittite texts,Tamil literature Early Bronze Age: 3rd millennium BCE (approximate dates shown). The earliest written literature dates from about 2600 BCE (classical Sumerian). The earliest literary author known by name is Enheduanna, a Sumerian priestess and public figure dating to ca. the 24th century BCE. Certain literary texts are difficult to date, such as the Egyptian Book of the Dead, which was recorded in the Papyrus of Ani around 1240 BCE, but other versions of the book probably date from about the 18th century BCE. * 2600 Sumerian texts from Abu Salabikh, including the Instructions of Shuruppak and the Kesh temple hymn * 2400 Egyptian Pyramid Texts, including the Cannibal Hymn * 2400 Sumerian Code of Urukagina * 2400 Egyptian Palermo stone * 2350 Egyptian The Maxims of Ptahhotep * 2270 Sumerian Enheduanna's Hymns * 2250-2000 Earliest Sumerian stories in the Epic of Gilgamesh * 2100 Sumerian Curse of Agade * 2100 Sumerian Debate between Bird and Fish * 2050 Sumerian Code of Ur-Nammu * 2000 Egyptian Coffin Texts * 2000 Sumerian Lament for Ur * 2000 Sumerian Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta Middle Bronze Age: ca. 2000 to 1600 BCE (approximate dates shown) * 2000-1900 Egyptian Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor * 1950 Akkadian Laws of Eshnunna * 1900 Akkadian Legend of Etana ; }} * 1900 Sumerian Code of Lipit-Ishtar * 1859-1840 Egyptian The Eloquent Peasant * 1859-1840 Egyptian Story of Sinuhe (in Hieratic) * 1859-1840 Egyptian Dispute between a man and his Ba * 1859-1813 Egyptian Loyalist Teaching * 1850 Akkadian Kultepe texts * 1800 Akkadian Enûma Eliš * 1780 Akkadian Mari letters, including the Epic of Zimri-Lim * 1754 Akkadian Code of Hammurabi stele * 1750 Hittite Anitta text * 1700 Akkadian Atra-Hasis epic * 1700 Egyptian Westcar Papyrus * 1700 Akkadian Epic of Gilgamesh * 1650 Egyptian Ipuwer Papyrus * 1600 Akkadian Eridu Genesis Late Bronze Age: ca. 1600 to 1200 BCE (approximate dates shown) * 1700-1100 Vedic Sanskrit: approximate date of the composition of the Rigveda. Many of these were not set to writing until later.Oberlies (1998:155) gives an estimate of 1100 BCE for the youngest hymns in book 10. Estimates for a terminus post quem of the earliest hymns are far more uncertain. Oberlies (p. 158) based on 'cumulative evidence' sets wide range of 1700–1100 * 1600 Hittite Code of the Nesilim * 1500 Akkadian Poor Man of Nippur * 1500 Hittite military oath * 1550 Egyptian Book of the Dead * 1500 Akkadian Dynasty of Dunnum “Perhaps it was brought east with the Amorites of the First Dynasty of Babylon.” * 1400 Akkadian Marriage of Nergal and Ereshkigal * 1400 Akkadian Autobiography of Kurigalzu * 1400 Akkadian Amarna letters * 1330 Egyptian Great Hymn to the Aten * 1240 Egyptian Papyrus of Ani, Book of the Dead * 1200-900 Akkadian version and younger stories in the Epic of Gilgamesh * 1200 Akkadian Tukulti-Ninurta Epic * 1200 Egyptian Tale of Two BrothersMiriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, vol.2, 1980, p.203 Iron Age :See also Sanskrit literature, Chinese literature '''Iron Age' texts predating Classical Antiquity: 12th to 8th centuries BCE * 1200-1100 BCE approximate date of books RV 1 and RV 10 in the Rigveda * 1200-800 BCE approximate date of the Vedic Sanskrit Yajurveda, Atharvaveda, Samaveda * 1100-800 BCE date of the redaction of the extant text of the Rigveda * 1050 BCE Egyptian Story of Wenamun * 1050 BCE Akkadian ''Sakikkū'' (SA.GIG) “Diagnostic Omens” by Esagil-kin-apli. * 1050 BCE The Babylonian Theodicy of Šaggil-kīnam-ubbib. * 1000-600 BCE Chinese Classic of Poetry (Shījīng), Classic of Documents (Shūjīng) (authentic portions), Classic of Changes (I Ching) * 950 BCE date of the Jahwist portions of the Torah (according to the documentary hypothesis) * 900 BCE Akkadian Epic of Erra * 850 BCE date of the Elohist portions of the Torah (according to the documentary hypothesis) Classical Antiquity :See also Ancient Greek literature, Syriac literature, Latin literature, Indian literature, Ancient Hebrew writings, Avesta :See also: centuries in poetry: 7th, 6th, 5th, 4th, 3rd, 2nd, 1st '''8th century BCE' * Greek Trojan War cycle, including the Iliad and the Odyssey * 800-500 BCE: Vedic Sanskrit Brahmanas * Oldest non-Pentateuchal books of the Hebrew Bible (the Book of Nahum, Book of Hosea, Book of Amos, Book of Isaiah) see Carbon dating the Dead Sea Scrolls 7th century BCE * Vedic Sanskrit ** Aranyakas * Greek: ** Hesiod: The Theogony and Works and Days ** Archilochus ** Alcman ** Semonides of Amorgos ** Solon ** Mimnermus ** Stesichorus 6th century BCE * Hebrew Bible: Psalms (according to late dating), Book of Ezekiel, Book of Daniel (according to conservative or early dating) * Chinese: Sun Tzu: The Art of War (Sūnzǐ Bīngfǎ) * Vedic Sanskrit: ** Brihadaranyaka Upanishad ** Chandogya Upanishad * Greek: ** Sappho ** Ibycus ** Alcaeus of Mytilene ** Aesop's Fables 5th century BCE * Vedic Sanskrit: ** Aitareya Upanishad ** Taittiriya Upanishad ** Kenopanishad * Avestan: Yasht * Chinese: ** Spring and Autumn Annals (Chūnqiū) (722–481 BCE, chronicles of the state of Lu) ** Confucius: Analects (Lúnyǔ) ** Classic of Rites (Lǐjì) ** Commentaries of Zuo (Zuǒzhuàn) ** Mozi: Mozi (book) * Greek: ** Pindar: Odes ** Herodotus: The Histories of Herodotus ** Thucydides: History of the Peloponnesian War ** Aeschylus: The Suppliants, The Persians, Seven Against Thebes, Oresteia ** Sophocles: Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone, Electra and other plays ** Euripides: Alcestis, Medea, Heracleidae, Hippolytus, Andromache, Hecuba, The Suppliants, Electra, Heracles, Trojan Women, Iphigeneia in Tauris, Ion, Helen, Phoenician Women, Orestes, Bacchae, Iphigeneia at Aulis, Cyclops, Rhesus ** Aristophanes: The Acharnians, The Knights, The Clouds, The Wasps, Peace, The Birds, Lysistrata, Thesmophoriazusae, The Frogs, Ecclesiazousae, Plutus * Hebrew: date of the extant text of the Torah 4th century BCE * Sanskrit ** Ishopanishad ** Katha Upanishad ** Prashnopanishad ** Mundaka Upanishad ** Māṇḍūkya Upanishad * Hebrew: Book of Job, beginning of Hebrew wisdom literature * Hebrew Torah, also called the Pentateuch or Five Books of Mosesaccording to ancient Jewish and Christian tradition, and some modern scholars; see above inline citations.Talmud, Bava Bathra 146Mishnah, Pirqe Avoth 1:1 with a final redaction between 900-450 BCE. Some give an alternate date of 1320-1280. * Chinese: ** Laozi (or Lao Tzu): Tao Te Ching ** Zhuangzi: Zhuangzi (book) ** Mencius: Mencius ** Shang Yang: The Book of Lord Shang (Shāng jūn shū) * Greek: ** Xenophon: Anabasis, Cyropaedia ** Aristotle: Nicomachean Ethics, Metaphysics ** Plato: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Theaetetus, Parmenides, Symposium, Phaedrus, Protagoras, Gorgias, Meno, Menexenus, Republic, Timaeus ** Euclid: Elements ** Menander: Dyskolos ** Theophrastus: Enquiry into Plants 3rd century BCE * Avestan: Avesta * Etruscan: Liber Linteus Zagrabiensis (Linen Book of Zagreb) * Sanskrit: ** Epics: Mahabharata and Ramayana (3rd century BCE to 4th century CE) ** Khaḍgaviṣāna Sūkta (Buddhist) ** Aṣṭaka Varga (Buddhist) ** Pārāyana Varga (Buddhist) * Tamil: ** 3rd century BCE to 3rd century CE: Sangam poems ** Tolkāppiyam (grammar book) * Hebrew: Ecclesiastes * Greek: ** Apollonius of Rhodes: Argonautica ** Callimachus (310/305-240 B.C.), lyric poet ** Manetho: Aegyptiaca ** Theocritus, lyric poet * Latin: ** Lucius Livius Andronicus (c. 280/260 BCE — c. 200 BCE), translator, founder of Roman drama ** Gnaeus Naevius (ca. 264 — 201 BCE), dramatist, epic poet ** Titus Maccius Plautus (c. 254 — 184 BCE), dramatist, composer of comedies: Poenulus, Miles Gloriosus, and other plays ** Quintus Fabius Pictor (3rd century BCE), historian ** Lucius Cincius Alimentus (3rd century BCE), military historian and antiquarian 2nd century BCE * Avestan: Vendidad * Chinese: Sima Qian: Records of the Grand Historian (Shǐjì) * Aramaic: Book of Daniel * Hebrew: Sirach * Greek ** Polybius: The Histories ** Book of Wisdom ** Septuagint * Latin: ** Terence (195/185 BCE — 159 BCE), comic dramatist: The Brothers, The Girl from Andros, Eunuchus, The Self-Tormentor ** Quintus Ennius (239 BCE — c. 169 BCE), poet ** Marcus Pacuvius (ca. 220 BCE — 130 BCE), tragic dramatist, poet ** Statius Caecilius (220 BCEE — 168/166 BCE), comic dramatist ** Marcius Porcius Cato (234 BCE — 149 BCE), generalist, topical writer ** Gaius Acilius (2nd century BCE), historian ** Lucius Accius (170 BCE — c. 86 BCE), tragic dramatist, philologist ** Gaius Lucilius (c. 160's BCE — 103/2 BCE), satirist ** Quintus Lutatius Catulus (2nd century BCE), public officer, epigrammatist ** Aulus Furius Antias (2nd century BCE), poet ** Gaius Julius Caesar Strabo Vopiscus (130 BCE — 87 BCE), public officer, tragic dramatist ** Lucius Pomponius Bononiensis (2nd century BCE), comic dramatist, satirist ** Lucius Cassius Hemina (2nd century BCE), historian ** Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi (2nd century BCE), historian ** Manius Manilius (2nd century BCE), public officer, jurist ** Lucius Coelius Antipater (2nd century BCE), jurist, historian ** Publius Sempronius Asellio (158 BCE — after 91 BCE), military officer, historian ** Gaius Sempronius Tuditanus (2nd century BCE), jurist ** Lucius Afranius (2nd & 1st centuries BCE), comic dramatist ** Titus Albucius (2nd & 1st centuries BCE), orator ** Publius Rutilius Rufus (158 BCE — after 78 BCE), jurist ** Quintus Lutatius Catulus (2nd & 1st centuries BCE), public officer, poet ** Lucius Aelius Stilo Praeconinus (154 BCE — 74 BCE), philologist ** Quintus Claudius Quadrigarius (2nd & 1st centuries BCE), historian ** Valerius Antias (2nd & 1st centuries BCE), historian ** Lucius Cornelius Sisenna (121 BCE — 67 BCE), soldier, historian ** Quintus Cornificius (2nd & 1st centuries BCE), rhetorician 1st century BCE * Pali: Tipitaka * Latin: ** Cicero: Catiline Orations, Pro Caelio, Dream of Scipio ** Julius Caesar: Gallic Wars ** Virgil: Eclogues, Georgics and Aeneid ** Lucretius: On the Nature of Things ** Livy: History of Rome (Ab Urbe Condita) :See also: Pahlavi literature, centuries in poetry: 1st, 2nd and 3rd ;1st century CE * Chinese: Ban Gu: Book of Han (Hànshū) * Greek: ** Plutarch: Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans ** Josephus: The Jewish War, Antiquities of the Jews, Against Apion ** The books of the New Testament * Latin: see Classical Latin ** Tacitus: Germania ** Ovid: Metamorphoses ** Pliny the Elder: Natural History ** Petronius: Satyricon ** Seneca the Younger: Phaedra, Dialogues ;2nd century * Sanskrit: Aśvaghoṣa: Buddhacharita (Acts of the Buddha) * Pahlavi: ** Yadegar-e Zariran (Memorial of Zarēr) ** Visperad ** Drakht-i Asurig (The Babylonian Tree) * Greek: ** Arrian: Anabasis Alexandri ** Marcus Aurelius: Meditations ** Epictetus and Arrian: Enchiridion ** Ptolemy: Almagest ** Athenaeus: The Banquet of the Learned ** Pausanias: Description of Greece ** Longus: Daphnis and Chloe ** Lucian: True History * Latin: see Classical Latin ** Apuleius: The Golden Ass ** Lucius Ampelius: Liber Memorialis ** Suetonius: Lives of the Twelve Caesars ;3rd century * Avestan: Khordeh Avesta (Zoroastrian prayer book) * Pahlavi: Mani: Shabuhragan (Manichaean holy book) * Chinese: Chen Shou: Records of Three Kingdoms (Sānguó Zhì) * Greek: Plotinus: Enneads * Latin: see Late Latin ** Distichs of Cato * Hebrew: Mishnah Late Antiquity :See also: 4th century in poetry, 5th century in poetry ;4th century * ''Latin: see Late Latin ** Augustine of Hippo: Confessions, On Christian Doctrine ** Faltonia Betitia Proba: Cento Vergilianus de laudibus Christi ("A Virgilian Cento Concerning the Glory of Christ") ** Apicius (De re coquinaria, "On the Subject of Cooking") ** Pervigilium Veneris ("Vigil of Venus") * Syriac: Aphrahat, Ephrem the Syrian * Aramaic: Jerusalem Talmud ;5th century * Chinese: ** Bao Zhao: Fu on the Ruined City (蕪城賦, Wú chéng fù) ** Fan Ye: Book of the Later Han (後漢書, Hòuhànshū) * Sanskrit: Kālidāsa (speculated): Abhijñānaśākuntalam (अभिज्ञान शाकुन्तलम्, "The Recognition of Shakuntala"), Meghadūta (मेघदूत, "Cloud Messenger"), Vikramōrvaśīyam (विक्रमोर्वशीयम्, "Urvashi Won by Valour", play) * Tamil: **''Tirukkural (Sacred verses)'' ** Silappatikaram (The Tale of the Anklet) * Pahlavi: ** Matigan-i Hazar Datistan (The Thousand Laws of the Magistan) ** Frahang-i Oim-evak (Pahlavi-Avestan dictionary) * Latin: see Late Latin ** Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus: De Re Militari ** Augustine of Hippo: The City of God ** Paulus Orosius: Seven Books of History Against the Pagans ** Jerome: Vulgate ** Prudentius: Psychomachia ** Consentius's grammar ** Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite: De Coelesti Hierarchia (Περὶ τῆς Οὐρανίας Ἱεραρχίας, "On the Celestial Hierarchy"), Mystical Theology ** Socrates of Constantinople: Historia Ecclesiastica ;6th century * Latin: Boethius, De consolatione philosophiae ("The Consolation of Philosophy", 524 CE), widely considered to be the last work of classical philosophy''The Consolation of Philosophy (Oxford World's Classics), Introduction (2000)Dante placed Boethius the “last of the Romans and first of the Scholastics” among the doctors in his Paradise (see ''The Divine Comedy). * Aramaic: Babylonian Talmud See also * Early Medieval literature * List of languages by first written accounts * List of years in literature References 01 Category:Ancient literature